Establishing a women's volunteer team (Qadirat)

Donor:

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, KAS

The goal:
After conducting a study on women situation in Mosul, IID had developed an action plan to form the first women's volunteer team working on women's issues after the liberation of Mosul city. The team aimed at promoting women's role in social life and creating initiatives for them to participate in the peacebuilding process and take their important role in the society.
A Brief Description of Activity 1:
Workshop 1: Women's role in peacebuilding, 3-4/11/2017:
A session was held to discuss the causes of conflicts and how to resolve them.
Brainstorming was applied to order the conflicts and then a written assignment was given in order to know their sequence.
The reconciliation agreement was then explained with giving international and local examples.
The participants were divided into 5 working groups and asked to submit proposals on peacebuilding projects.
An explanation of the concept of advocacy and its tools was presented.
Participants were divided into two groups and examples of advocacy campaigns were provided and explained.

A Brief Description of Activity 2:
Workshop 2: What we do tomorrow, 9-10/11/2017
Participants were divided into groups and asked what they know of civil society. Then, a brief history of the civil society was presented as well as its importance and legality.
Explaining the relationship of volunteering with the work of non - governmental organizations, then the role of volunteerism and its association with sustainable development was explained.
SWAT table on internal and external opportunities was explained the challenges and risks as well. The participants were divided into five groups, each of which analyzed the peace situation in Mosul and identified the main players to promote civil peace and how women have a major role to contribute to the promotion of civil peace.
The participants were divided into 4 groups and were asked to select a name for their voluntary team. Qadirat name was agreed upon, which means "capable of" in English. Qadirat to change their reality to better and promote their situation and build permanent peace. After selecting the name, the organizational structure was detailed and agreed upon that consists of a head, follow-up groups and committee. Also, they decided to write the goal, vision and the mission of the team. In the end, three logo samples were presented that were designed by the participants themselves. After thorough discussions, one was selected putting the team's name on it.